Leggenda del santo bevitore, La (1988)

Director:

Ermanno Olmi

Writers:

Tullio Kezich (writer)
Ermanno Olmi (writer)

Release Date:

2 September 1988 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Awards:

9 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Rutger Hauer	...	Andreas Kartak
Anthony Quayle	...	Distinguished Gentleman
Sandrine Dumas	...	Gaby
Dominique Pinon	...	Woitech
Sophie Segalen	...	Karoline
Cécile Paoli	...	Fur store seller
Jean-Maurice Chanet	...	Daniel Kanjak
Joseph De Medina	...	Fat man
Francesco Aldighieri	...	Policeman (as Franco Aldighieri)
Françoise Pinkwasser	...	Inn woman
Joséphine Lecaille	...	Fat man's wife
Maria Mazzocco	...	Tari-Bari owner
Dalila Belatreche	...	Thérèse

Also Known As:

Légende du saint buveur, La (France)
The Legend of the Holy Drinker

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Company:

Aura Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Allemaal film: De amerikaanse droom (#1.6)" (2007)

Vintage stuff

Olmi is one of Europe's last Old Masters in the art of film making. He is usually regarded as a belated neo-realist, but after you've seen "The Legend of the Holy Drinker", you will realize the label simply does not stick. This is a film about spirituality, about communion, one of the most deeply religious movies ever, whose only rivals might be Dreyer's "Ordet" or Bergman's rather pretentious "faith trilogy" ("Through a Glass Darkly", "Winter Light" and "The Silence"). However, you will not find Scandinavian mists or angst in Catholic Olmi's adaptation of the beautiful novella written, oddly enough, by a great Jewish novelist, Joseph Roth. Wine is a metaphor for life, and Paris is a metaphor for our urban world. In this symbolic universe, it takes a great actor to give flesh and blood to the character of Andreas, the holy drinker, a beggar endowed with an amazing sense of dignity. Rutger Hauer was the man for the job: this was his best performance: he was never better, and, to judge from the course his career has taken, I fear he will never be better than in this film. It is not a thriller, but it is thrilling. It takes its own leisurely pace, but goes very far, very deep indeed into the human soul. After so many insipid or unpalatable cinematic concoctions, treat yourself to this film: it truly is vintage stuff.